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Generations of Noah

TheGenerations of NoahorTable of Nations(Genesis 10of theHebrew Bible) is a
traditionalethnologyrepresenting the
expansion of humankind from the descendants ofNoahand
their dispersion into many lands after theFlood.The
term "nations" to describe the descendants is a standard English
translation of the Hebrew word "goy",
following thec.400
CE LatinVulgate's
"nationes" / "nationibus", and does not have the same
political connotations that the word entails today.

The
list of 70 names introduces for the first time a number of well knownethnonymsandtoponymsimportant to
biblical geographysuch
as Noah's three sonsShem,HamandJapheth, from which
is derivedSemitic,HamiticandJaphetites, certain
of Noah's grandsons includingElam,Ashur,Aram,Cush, andCanaan,
from which the Elamites,Assyrians,Arameans,CushitesandCanaanites, as well
as further descendants includingEber(from
which "Hebrews"), the
hunter-kingNimrod, thePhilistinesand the sons of
Canaan includingHeth, Jebus and
Amorus, from whichHittites,JebusitesandAmorites.

As
Christianity took over the Roman world, it adopted the idea that all the
world's peoples were descended from Noah. But the tradition of Hellenistic
Jewish identifications of the ancestry of various peoples, which concentrates
very much on the Mediterranean world and theNear Eastand is described below,
became stretched. Northern peoples important to the Late Roman and medieval
world, such as theCelts,Slavs,GermansandNorsemenwere not covered,
nor were others of the world's peoples. A variety of arrangements were devised
by scholars, with for example theScythians, who do
feature in the tradition, being claimed as the ancestors of much of northern
Europe.

According
toJoseph
Blenkinsopp, the70 namesin the list express
symbolically the unity of the human race, corresponding to the 70 descendants
of Israel who go down into Egypt with Jacob atGenesis 46:27and the 70 elders
of Israel who visit God with Moses at the covenant ceremony inExodus 24:1–9.

Table of Nations

Book of Genesis

Noah dividing the world between his sons. Anonymous
painter; Russia, 18th century

Chapters
1–11 of theBook of Genesisare structured
around fivetoledotstatements
("these are the generations of..."), of which the "generations
of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth," is the fourth. Events before
theGenesis flood narrative, the central toledoth,
correspond to those after: the post-Flood world is a new creation corresponding
to theGenesis creation narrative, and likeAdam, Noah has three sons who will populate
the world. The correspondences extend forward as well: there are 70 names in
the Table, corresponding to the 70 Israelites who go down into Egypt at the end
of Genesis and to the 70 elders of Israel who go up the mountain with Sinai to
meet with God in Exodus. The symbolic force of these numbers is underscored by
the way the names are frequently arranged in groups of seven, suggesting that
the Table is a symbolic means of implying universal moral obligation.

The
overall structure of the Table is:

·1. Introductory
formula, v.1

·2. Japheth, vv.2–5

·3. Ham, vv.6–20

·4. Shem, 21–31

·5. Concluding
formula, v.32.

The
overall principle governing the assignment of various peoples within the Table
is difficult to discern: it purports to describe all humankind, but restricts
itself to the Egyptian lands of the south, the Mesopotamian lands, and Anatolia
and the Ionian Greeks, and the "sons of Noah" are not organised by
geography, language or ethnic groups within these regions.The Table is in
fact filled with difficulties: for example, the names Sheba and Havilah are
listed twice, first as descendants of Cush the son of Ham (verse 7), and then
as sons of Joktan, the great-grandsons of Shem, and while the Cushites are
African in verses 6–7 they are Mesopotamians in verses 10–14.

The
date of composition of Genesis 1–11 cannot be fixed with any precision,
although it seems likely that an early brief nucleus was later expanded with
extra data.Portions
of the Table itself may derive from the 10th century, while others reflect the
7th century andpriestlyrevisions in the
5th century.Its
combination of world review, myth and genealogy corresponds to the work of the
Greek historianHecataeus
of Miletus, active c.520 BCE.

Book of Chronicles

I
Chronicles 1 includes a version of the Table of Nations from Genesis, but
edited to make clearer that the intention is to establish the background for
Israel. This is done by condensing various branches to focus on the story of
Abraham and his offspring. Most notably, it omits Genesis 10:9–14, in which
Nimrod, a son of Cush, is linked to various cities in Mesopotamia, thus
removing from Cush any Mesopotamian connection.

Book of Jubilees

The
Table of Nations is expanded upon in detail in chapters 8–9 of theBook of Jubilees,
sometimes known as the "Lesser Genesis," a work from the earlySecond
Temple period. Jubilees is consideredPseudepigraphicalby most Christian
and Jewish sects but thought to have been held in regard by many of theChurch Fathers.Its division of the
descendants throughout the world are thought to have been heavily influenced by
the "Ionian world map" described intheHistories (Herodotus),and the anomalous
treatment of Canaan and Madai are thought to have been "propaganda for the
territorial expansion of the Hasmonean state".

Septuagint version

The
Hebrew bible was translated into Greek in Alexandria at the request of Ptolemy
II, who reigned over Egypt 285–246 BCE.Its
version of the Table of Nations is substantially the same as that in the Hebrew
text, but with the following differences:

·It lists Elisa as
an extra son of Japheth, giving him eight instead of seven, while continuing to
list him also as a son of Javan, as in the Masoretic text.

·Whereas the Hebrew
text lists Shelah as the son of Arpachshad in the line of Shem, the Septuagint
has aCainanas the son of
Arpachshad and father of Shelah – the Book of Jubilees gives considerable scope
to this figure. Cainan appears again at the end of the list of the sons of
Shem.

·Obal, Joktan's
eighth son in the Masoretic text, does not appear.

Sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth

1823 map byRobert Wilkinson(see also 1797
versionhere). Prior to the mid-19th century, Shem was
associated with all of Asia, Ham with all of Africa and Japheth with all of
Europe.

TheFlood storytells
how Noah and his three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, together with their wives,
were saved from the Deluge to repopulate the Earth.

·Shem's name means "name" or
"fame". Through Eber he became the ancestor ofAbrahamand thus of the
Israelites.In
the view of some 17th-century European scholars (e.g.,John Webb), the people of China, eastern Persia and
"the Indias" descended from Shem.Both Webb and the
French Jesuits belonging to theFiguristschool (late
17th-early 18th century) went even further, identifying the legendaryEmperor Yaoof Chinese history
withNoahhimself.

·Hamis the forefather
of Cush, Egypt, and Put, and of Canaan, whose lands include portions of Africa,
Arabia, Syria-Palestine and Mesopotamia. The etymology of his name is
uncertain; some scholars have linked it to terms connected with divinity, but a
divine or semi-divine status for Ham is unlikely.

·Japhethis apparently the
youngest son, although his line is given first.His name is
associated with the mythological Greek Titan Iapetos, and his sons include
Javan, the Greek-speaking cities ofIonia.In
Genesis 9:27 it forms a pun with the Hebrew rootypt:
"May God make room [thehiphilof the yph root]
for Japheth, that he may live in Shem's tents and Canaan may be his
slave."

Ethnological interpretations

In Flavius Josephus

The
1st-century Jewish-Roman historianJosephus, inAntiquities of the JewsBook 1, chapter 6,
was among the first of many who attempted to assign known ethnicities to some
of the names listed in Genesis chapter 10. His assignments became the basis for
most later authors, and were as follows:

·Gomer: "those
whom the Greeks now callGalatians, [Galls,]
but were then called Gomerites".

·Aschanax
(Ashkenaz): "Aschanaxians, who are now called by the Greeks
Rheginians".

·Riphath:
"Ripheans, now calledPaphlagonians".

·Thrugramma
(Togarmah): "Thrugrammeans, who, as the Greeks resolved, were namedPhrygians".

·Magog:
"Magogites, but who are by the Greeks calledScythians".

·Madai: "the
Madeans, who are calledMedes, by the Greeks".

·Javan: "Ionia,
and all theGrecians".

·Elisa:
"Eliseans... they are now theAeolians".

·Tharsus (Tarshish):
"Tharsians, for so wasCiliciaof old
called". He also derives the name of their city Tarsus from Tharsus.

·Cethimus (Kittim):
"The island Cethima: it is now calledCyprus". He
also derives the Greek name of their city, which he spellsCitius,
from Cethimus.

·Thobel (Tubal):
"Thobelites, who are now called Iberes".

·Mosoch (Meshech):
"Mosocheni... now they areCappadocians."
He also derives the name of their capitalMazacafrom Mosoch.

·Thiras (Tiras):
"Thirasians; but the Greeks changed the name intoThracians".

·Chus (Cush):
"Ethiopians... even at this day, both by themselves and by all men in
Asia, calledChusites".

·Sabas (Seba):
Sabeans

·Evilas (Havilah):
"Evileans, who are calledGetuli".

·Sabathes (Sabta):
"Sabathens, they are now called by the GreeksAstaborans".

·Sabactas (Sabteca):
Sabactens

·Ragmus (Raamah):
Ragmeans

·Judadas (Dedan):
"Judadeans, a nation of the western Ethiopians".

·Sabas (Sheba):
Sabeans

·Mesraim (Misraim):Egypt, which he says is calledMestrein his country.

·"Now all the
children of Mesraim, being eight in number, possessed the country from Gaza to
Egypt, though it retained the name of one only, the Philistim; for the Greeks
call part of that countryPalestine.
As for the rest, Ludieim, and Enemim, and Labim, who alone inhabited in Libya, and
called the country from himself, Nedim, and Phethrosim, and Chesloim, and
Cephthorim, we know nothing of them besides their names; for the Ethiopic war
which we shall describe hereafter, was the cause that those cities were
overthrown."

·Phut:Libya. He states that a river and region
"in the country of Moors" was still calledPhutby the Greeks, but
that it had been renamed "from one of the sons of Mesraim, who was called
Lybyos".

·Canaan:Judea, which he called "from his own name
Canaan".

·Sidonius (Sidon):
The city of Sidonius, "called by the GreeksSidon".

·Amathus
(Hamathite): "Amathine, which is even now called Amathe by the inhabitants,
although the Macedonians named it Epiphania, from one of his posterity."

·Arudeus (Arvadite):
"the island Aradus".

·Arucas (Arkite):
"Arce, which is in Libanus".

·"But for the
seven others [sons of Canaan], Chetteus, Jebuseus, Amorreus, Gergesus, Eudeus,
Sineus, Samareus, we have nothing in the sacred books but their names, for the
Hebrews overthrew their cities".

·Elam: "Elamites, the
ancestors of the Persians".

·Ashur: "Assyrians, and their
cityNinivehbuilt by Ashur.

·Arphaxad:
"Arphaxadites, who are now calledChaldeans".

·Sala

·Heber (Eber):
"from whom they originally called the JewsHebrews".

·Phaleg (Peleg): He
notes that he was so named "because he was born at the dispersion of the
nations to their several countries; forPhalegamong the Hebrews
signifies division".

·Joctan

·"Elmodad,
Saleph, Asermoth, Jera, Adoram, Aizel, Decla, Ebal, Abimael, Sabeus, Ophir,
Euilat, and Jobab. These inhabited fromCophen, an Indian
river, and in part of Asia adjoining to it."

·Aram:
"Aramites, which the Greeks calledSyrians".

·Uz: "Uz
foundedTrachonitisandDamascus: this
country lies between Palestine andCelesyria".

·Ul (Hul):Armenia

·Gather (Gether):Bactrians

·Mesa (Mesh):
"Mesaneans; it is now calledCharax Spasinu".

·Laud (Lud):
"Laudites, which are now calledLydians".

In Hippolytus

Woodcut from theNuremberg
Chronicle, showing Shem, Ham and Japheth over their corners of the
world

Hippolytus
of Rome, in hisDiamerismos(c. 234, existing
in numerous Latin and Greek copies),made
another attempt to assign ethnicities to the names in Genesis 10. It is thought
to have been based on theBook of Jubilees.

Jerome, writing c.
390, provided an 'updated' version of Josephus' identifications in hisHebrew Questions on
Genesis. His list is substantially identical to that of
Josephus in almost all respects, but with the following notable differences:

·Thubal, son of
Japheth: "Iberians, who are
also theSpaniardsfrom whom derive
theCeltiberians,
although certain people suppose them to be the Italians."

·Gether, son of
Aram: "AcarnaniiorCarians"

·Mash, son of Aram:Maeones

In Isidore of Seville
and later authors

The
scholarIsidore
of Seville, in hisEtymologiae(c. 600), repeats
all of Jerome's identifications, but with these minor changes:

·Joktan, son of
Eber:Indians

·Saleph, son of
Joktan:Bactrians

·Magog, son of
Japheth: "Scythians andGoths"

·Ashkenaz, son of
Gomer: "Sarmatians,
whom the Greeks call Rheginians".

Isidore's
identifications for Japheth's sons were repeated in theHistoria
Brittonumattributed
toNennius. Isidore's
identifications also became the basis for numerous later mediaeval scholars,
remaining so until theAge of Discoveryprompted newer
theories, such as that ofBenito
Arias Montano(1571),
who proposed connecting Meshech withMoscow, and Ophir
withPeru.

While
Genesis 10 was covered extensively by numerous Christian, Jewish and Muslim
scholars over many centuries, the phrase "Table" of nations only
appeared and became popular in English from the 1830s.

The
GreekSeptuagint(LXX) text of
Genesis includes an additional son of Japheth, "Elisa", between Javan
and Tubal; however, as this name is found in no other ancient source, nor in I
Chronicles, he is almost universally agreed to be a duplicate of Elisha, son of
Javan. The presence of Elisa and of Cainan son of Arpachshad (below) in the
Greek Bible accounts for the traditional enumeration among early Christian
sources of 72 names, as opposed to the 70 names found in Jewish sources and
Western Christian sources.

·Gomer: theCimmerians, a people
from the northern Black Sea, made incursions into Anatolia in the eighth and
early seventh centuries BCE before being confined to Cappadocia.

·Ashkenaz: A people
of the Black and Caspian sea areas, much later associated with German and East
European Jews. The Ashkuza, who lived on the upperEuphratesinArmeniaexpelled the
Cimmerians from their territory, and in Jeremiah 51:27 were said to march
against Babylon along with two other northern kingdoms.

·Riphath(Diphathin Chronicles):
Josephus identification Riphath with thePaphlagoniansof later antiquity,
but this appears to have been no more than a guess; theBook of Jubileesidentifies the name
with the "Riphean
Mountains", equated with the Causcasus in Classical sources,
and the general understanding seems to have been invaders from the Causcuses
who were settled in Armenia or Cappadocia.

·Togarmah: Associated
with Anatolia in Ezekiel.Later
Armenian historians claimed Togarmah as an ancestor.

·Magog: Associated in
Ezekiel with Gog, a king ofLydia, and thereby with Anatolia.The first century
CE Jewish historianJosephusstated that Magog
was identical with theScythians, but
modern scholars are sceptical of this and place Magog simply somewhere in
Anatolia.

·Madai: TheMedes, from an area now in northwest Iran.

·Javan: This name is universally agreed to
refer to theIonians(Greeks)
of the western and southern coast of Anatolia.

·Elishah: Possibly
Elaioussa, an island off the coast of Cilicia, or an old name for the island of
Cyprus.

·Tarshish(Tarshishahin Chronicles):
Candidates include (Tartessos)
in Spain and Tharros in Sardinia, both of which appear unlikely, and Tarsus in
Cilicia, which appears more likely despite some linguistic difficulties.

·Kittim: Originally
the inhabitants of Kition in Cyprus, later the entire island; in theDead Sea Scrollsthe Kittim appear
to be the Romans.

·Dodanim(Rodanimin Chronicles):
Inhabitants ofRhodes.

·Tubal: Tubal and Meshech always appear as a
pair in the Old Testament.The
name Tubal is connected withTabaland
Greek Tipaprivoi, a people ofCappadocia, in the
north-east of Anatolia.

·Meshech:Mushki/Muski had its
capital atGordiumand fused with the
kingdom ofPhrygiaby the 8th century.

·Tiras: Josephus and late Rabbinical writers
associated Tiras withThrace, the part of
Europe opposite Anatolia, but all the other sons of Japheth are located in
Anatolia itself and it is possible that Tiras may refer to Thracians inhabiting
westernmost Anatolia; it has also been associated with some of theSea Peoplessuch as Tursha andTyrrhenians, but
this is considered unlikely.

Other interpretations:
Descendants of Ham

·Cush: The biblical
transliteration of the Egyptian name forNubiaor
Ethiopia; the "sons of Cush" which follow are various locations on
the Arabian and possibly African coasts bordering the Red Sea.

·Seba, son of Cush. Has been connected with
bothYemenandEthiopia, with much
confusion with Sheba below.

·Havilah, son of
Cush.

·Sabtah, son of Cush.

·Raamah, son of Cush.

·Sheba, son of Raamah. Has been connected withSabaeansand peoples on
either side of the narrowest part of theRed Sea.

·Dedan, son of Raamah.

·Sabtechah, son of
Cush.

·Nimrod: Possibly
connected withNaram-Sin,
a 3rd millennium king ofAkkad;in verses
10–12 he is the founder of a list ofMesopotamiancities, and the biblical
tradition elsewhere identifies him with northern Mesopotamia or Assyria.His location
(Mesopotamia) is something of an anomaly, in that the other sons of Cush are
connected with Africa or the Red Sea, and he is probably a late insertion
resulting from a confusion between the African Cush and a quite different Cush,
theeponym(ancestor) of theKassites.

·Caphtorim: Probably
the island ofCrete. According to Deuteronomy 2:23,
Caphtorim settled inGaza, an important
Philistinian city.

·Phut: the Septuagint translates this asLibyans, which would
be in accordance with the north–to–south progression in the listing of Ham's
descendants, but some scholars have suggestedPunt, the Egyptian
name for Somalia.

·Canaan:
The strip of land west of theJordan Riverincluding modernLebanonand parts ofSyria, and the varied peoples who lived there.

·Sidon: The main Phoenician city, often treated
as synonymous withPhoenicia.

·Heth: Probably the
ancestor of thebiblical Hittites,
although theHittitesof Anatolia had no
ethnic or linguistic ties with the peoples of Canaan.

·"theJebusite",
offspring of Canaan.

·"theAmorite":
Generic name for West Semitic peoples of the Fertile Crescent.

·"theGirgasites",
offspring of Canaan

·"theHivite",
offspring of Canaan

·"theArkite",
offspring of Canaan.

·"theSinite",
offspring of Canaan.

·"theArvadite",
offspring of Canaan.

·"theZemarite",
offspring of Canaan.

·"theHamathite",
offspring of Canaan.

Beginning
in the 9th century with the Jewish grammarian Judah ibn Quraysh, a relationship
between theSemiticandCushitic
languageswas
seen; modern linguists group these two families, along with theEgyptian,Berber,Chadic, andOmoticlanguage groups
into the largerAfro-Asiaticlanguage
family. In addition, languages in the southern half of Africa are now seen as
belonging to several distinct families independent of the Afro-Asiatic group.
Some now discardedHamitictheories have
become viewed as racist; in particular a theory proposed in the 19th century by
Speke, that theTutsiwere
supposedly of some Hamitic ancestry and thusinherently superior.

The
17th-century Jesuit,Athanasius
Kircher, thought that the Chinese had also descended from Ham, via
Egyptians.

Other
interpretations: Descendants of Shem

·Elam:
A kingdom east of Babylon and along the Persian Gulf.TheElamitescalled their landHaltamtiand had an empire
(capitalSusa) in what is nowKhuzistan, modernIran.Elamiteis not aSemiticlanguage.

·Ashur: Assyria.

·Arpachshad: An
obscure name of uncertain meaning, although apparently associated with northern
Mesopotamia.

·Cainanis listed as the
son of Arpachshad and father of Shelah in theSeptuagint, a Greek
translation of the Hebrew bible (theMasoretic text) made
in the last few centuries before the modern era. The name is omitted in the
Hebrew bible. The genealogy ofJesusinSt. Luke3:36, which is
taken from the Septuagint rather than the Hebrew text, include the name.

·Salah(also
transcribedShelah)
son of Arpachshad (or Cainan).

·Eberson
of Shelah: The ancestor of Abraham and the Hebrews, he has a significant place
as the 14th from Adam.

·Peleg: The name means "division,"
and may refer to the division of the peoples in theTower of Babelincident which
follows, or to Peleg and his descendants being "divided out" as the
chosen people of God.

·Joktan: The name isArabic, and his 13
"sons," so far as they can be identified, correspond to the west and southwest
of the Arabian peninsula.

·Almodad, son of
Joktan.

·Sheleph, son of
Joktan.

·Hazarmaveth, son of
Joktan.

·Jerah, son of Joktan.

·Hadoram, son of
Joktan.

·Uzal, son of Joktan.

·Diklahson of Joktan.

·Obal, son of Joktan.

·Abimael, son of
Joktan.

·Sheba, son of Joktan.

·Ophir, son of Joktan.

·Havilah, son of
Joktan.

·Jobab, son of Joktan.

·Lud: The kingdom ofLydiain
eastern Anatolia.However,
Lydia was not Semitic and not geographically near the other "sons of
Shem", which makes its presence in the list difficult to explain.

·Aram: Mesopotamia
and Syria.

·Uz, son of Aram.

·Hul, son of Aram.

·Gether, son of Aram.

·Mash, son of Aram (1 ChronicleshasMeshech).

Extrabiblical sons of Noah

There
exist various traditions in post-biblical sources claiming that Noah had
children other than Shem, Ham, and Japheth — born variously before, during, or
after the Deluge.

According
to theQuran(Hud42–43), Noah had
another unnamed son who refused to come aboard the Ark, instead preferring to
climb a mountain, where he drowned. Some later Islamic commentators give his
name as eitherYamorKan'an.

According
toIrish mythology, as
found in theAnnals of the Four Mastersand elsewhere, Noah
had another son namedBithwho was not allowed
aboard the Ark, and who attempted to colonise Ireland with 54 persons, only to
be wiped out in the Deluge.

Some
9th-century manuscripts of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicleassert thatSceafawas the fourth son
of Noah, born aboard the Ark, from whom the House ofWessextraced their
ancestry; inWilliam of Malmesbury's version of this genealogy (c.
1120), Sceaf is instead made a descendant ofStrephius,
the fourth son born aboard the Ark (Gesta Regnum Anglorum).

An
early Arabic work known asKitab
al-Magall"Book
of Rolls" (part ofClementine literature) mentionsBouniter,
the fourth son of Noah, born after the flood, who allegedly invented astronomy
and instructed Nimrod.Variants
of this story with often similar names for Noah's fourth son are also found in
the c. fifth centuryGe'ezworkConflict of Adam and Eve with Satan(Barvin),
the c. sixth centurySyriacbookCave of Treasures(Yonton),
the seventh centuryApocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius(Ionitus),
the SyriacBook of the Bee1221
(Yônatôn), the HebrewChronicles of Jerahmeel,
c. 12th–14th century (Jonithes), and throughout Armenian apocryphal
literature, where he is usually referred to asManiton;
as well as in works byPetrus Comestorc. 1160 (Jonithus),Godfrey
of Viterbo1185
(Ihonitus),Michael
the Syrian1196
(Maniton),Abu al-Makarimc. 1208 (Abu
Naiţur);Jacob
van Maerlantc.
1270 (Jonitus), andAbraham Zacuto1504 (Yoniko).

Martin of Opava(c. 1250), later
versions of theMirabilia Urbis Romae,
and theChronicon
Bohemorumof
Giovanni di Marignola (1355) makeJanus(the
Roman deity) the fourth son of Noah, who moved to Italy, inventedastrology, and
instructed Nimrod.

According
to the monkAnnio da Viterbo(1498), the
Hellenistic Babylonian writerBerossushad mentioned 30
children born to Noah after the Deluge, including sons namedTuisto,Prometheus,Iapetus,Macrus, "16titans",Cranus,Granaus,Oceanus, andTipheus. Also mentioned are daughters of Noah named
Araxa "the Great", Regina,Pandora, Crana, andThetis. However,
Annio's manuscript is widely regarded today as having been a forgery.

Islam

The
sons of Noah are not expressly mentioned in the Quran, except for the fact that
one of the sons was among the people who did not follow his own father, not
among the believers and thus was washed away in the flood. Also the Qur'an
indicates a great calamity, enough to have destroyed Noah's people, but to have
saved him his followers and his generations to come.